Drinking fountain



July 21, 1931. R, EFFEL 1,815,476

DRINKING FOUNTAIN Filed March 18. 1927 FlE.l.

INVENTOR Patented July 21, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROBERT LEFFEL, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOR TO STANDARD SANITARY MANUFACTURINGOOMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY DRINKING FOUNTAIN Application filed March 18, 1927. Serial No. 176,401.

This invention relates to` drinking fountains and more particularly to those of the bubbler type wherein a column orstream of water issues through a suitable j et opening b' in such a way as to permit drinking directly from the. stream.

In fountains of thistype any variation in the pressure of the water in the supply line causes a consequent variation in the shape,

y l@ height or other characteristic of the fountain stream, and these variations arefrequently such as to render it difficult to drink from the stream with any degree of success or satisfaction.

An object of this invention is to provide a drinking` fountain of the type set forth of such construction and arrangement as to prevent variations from the normal-in the pressure of the water supply from affecting the fountain flow.

A further object is to provide a water regulator for use with a supply Yline of such construction and arrangement that the flow passing said regulator and issuing from the water jet opening will be maintained substantially constant irrespective of pressure variations in the associated line.

In those drinking fountains where the ordinary round orcylindrica-l stream is profjectedvinto the air for drinking purposes a large number of bubbles Vor drops break off from the stream and are an annoyance to the drinker and cause a continual splashing.

A further object of this invention is to provide an arrangement for projecting a stream of drinking water of such character as vto eliminatethese objectionable features.

A further object is to provide a device of the type set forth which will be simple 0 and rugged in construction, positive and reli- `able in operation and relatively. cheap to manufacture and assemble.

l These and other objects which will be apparent to those skilled in this particular art are accomplished by means of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figurel is a transverse sectional view through a drinking fountain constructedin accordance with one form of this invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the bubbler or 01,111-

tain head, and Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. l, showing certain details on an enlarged scale.

The particular arrangement which has been chosen for the purposes of illustration consists of a so called slant stream drinking fountain, wherein the bubbler or fountain head is so formed as to project a stream of drinking water in an arcuate path. Water is supplied to the bubbler from a suitable inlet which may have a hand controlled valve for permitting or shutting of the flow of water, andthe usual drain outlet is provided for draining the fountain bowl. A water regulator is associated with the inlet or supply pipe and is of such form as to maintain a substantially constant flow through the bubbler or fountain head irrespective of variations in the water supply pressure. The regulator provides an opening of variable size through which the supply water flows to the bubbler and the regulator is so formed that it is responsive to variations in the supply pressure so as to vary the size of this opening and to reduce its area, and conse quently the flow therethrough upon an in crease in pressure in the supply line, and to increase the size of the opening upon a decrease in pressure in the supply line, thus maintaining a substantially constant stream flow in the fountain irrespective of variations in the pressure in thesupply line. A by-pass connects the supply line with the drain pipe below the fountain bowl so that any excess of water which the regulator prevents'passing to the bubbler head is by-passed to `the drain pipe and the regulator is so formed that the by-pass opening will be opened automatically to an extent proportional to the excess of pressure in the inlet line.

As illustrated, the present invention is shown applied to a fountain bowl 1 of usual construction having a drain outlet 2 communicating with an ordinary drain pipe 3. A water supply line 4l is connected to the fountain inlet pipe 5 through a spring controlled, manually operable valve 6 which normallv shuts off the supply of water but which can be operated., by the 'handle 7 to permlt water to flow from the supply line to the inlet pipe 5, as is well understood in this art. The inlet pipe 5 extends upwardly tln'ough the fountain bowl at one side thereof and has a fountain head or bubbler 8 secured to the top thereof by a suitable coupling rlhe buhbler is provided with a opening 10 positioned so as to form a slant stream of water which is thrown in an upwardly extending arc as is well known.

A stream regulator nut 11 having a circular series of holes 12 forming water passages is .rccured in the upper end of the inlet pipe 5 within the fountain head for the purpose of distributing the flow of water into the bubbler so as to completely fill all parts of the latter and to prevent a greater flow at one side thereof than at another.

A regulator is associated with the inlet pipe for maintaining a substantially constant flo-w through the jet opening 10. is illustrated, this regulator includes a regulator plug 13 which may be conveniently mounted in the stream regulator nut 11 and which cX- tends downwardly therefrom. The lower portion 1st of the plug is reduced in diameter and an annular groove 15 is formed at the top of this reduced portion. A control sleeve 16 is slidably mounted within the inlet pipe below the plug and is spring pressed downwardly by a helical spring 17 into tight fitting engagement with a perforated disc 18 mounted on an annular ledge 19 just below a by-pass opening 2O which is connected to the drain pipe 8 by the by-pass connection 21.

rlie regulator plug 13 is adapted to be so positioned that a annularl orifice of variable size is formed between the groove 15 of the plug and the upper end of the bore formed in the control sleeve 16.

The disc 1S upon which the control sleeve normally seats is provided with a circular series of openings 22 for causing the water liowing through the inlet pipe 5 to impinge against the lower pressure surface 23 at the bottom of the sleeve. rlfhe outer diameter of the sleeve at the bottom thereof is reduced so as to form a. passage 2l: communicating with the by-pass opening 2() so that water can flow into the by-pass opening and through the by-pass connection as soon as the sleeve 1G is raised from engagement with the disc 18 against the pressure of the spring 17.

It will be apparent that the annular flow controlling opening formed between the plug- 13 and the sleeve 1G can be adjusted so that apredetermined stream iiow will emerge from the jet opening 10; lf the valve 6 is open and the fountain in use, an increase in the water pressure in the supply line instead of causing an undesirable spurt in the flow through the jet opening 10 will increase the water pressure against thev surfaceV 23 against the bottom of the sleeve and cause the latter to be lifted vertically a distance dependent upon the degree of increase in such water pressure. The annular flow orifice at the top of the sleeve will be decreased by this vertical movement in accordance with the increase in pressure so as to counteract the greater velocity of flow therethrough and thus maintain a constant flow through the jet opening.

The surplus water reaching the inlet pipe 5 as a. result of increased pressure in the supply line will flow through the annular passage 24 to the by-pass opening and through the bypass connection 21 to the drain outlet. Upon a decrease in the supply pressure the sleeve 1G will be lowered so as to reduce or cut off the iow of water through the by-pass and at the same time the annular opening at the top of the sleeve will be increased in size to compensate for the reduction in the pressure of water in the supply line and thus maintain a constant flow through the liet orifice irre spective of such reduction.

In order to eliminate the objectionable splashing and breaking up of the ordinary stream into a number of small bubbles, the present invention provides a jet opening of such form that the breaking of the stream into spray or the splashing thereof is eliminated. This is accomplished by forming the jet open ing 10 of an irregular or non-circular conformation. As illustrated, the jet opening has a circular portion 25 in the side of the fountain head or bubbler 8 and a slot 26 is formed on the upper side of the circular portion so as to provide a fountain stream having a smooth surface on the top thereof which eifectually prevents the breaking up of the stream.

Although I have described what I now consider to be the preferred embodiment of this invention it will be apparent that various changes, additions, substitutions and omissions can be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims. What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A. drinking fountain having in combination a water supply line, a fountain head communicating therewith, an orifice through which water in said supply line iiows to said fountain head; a drain pipe spaced from said supply line, a by-pass connection between said. supply line and said drain pipe and mechanism located wholly within said supply line for causing any surplus of water in said supply line to flow through said by-pass to said drain pipe so as to maintain a substantially constant flow through said orifice.

2. The combinationin a plumbing fixtue of a water supply line adapted to deliver water thereto, a flow opening in said supply line through which said water passes, a bypass opening in said supply line on thez pressure side of said flow opening and mechanism located wholly within said supply line between said 'openings for varying the effective sizes of said openings so as to maintain a constant flow through said first opening.

3. The combination in a plumbing fixture of a water supply line adapted to deliver water thereto, a iow opening of variable size through which said water passes, a by-pass and mechanism located wholly within said supply line and subject to the pressure of water therein for opening said by-pass and restricting said flow opening when said pressure exceeds a predetermined amount.

4. The combination in a plumbing fixture of a water supply line adapted to deliver water thereto, a flow controlling opening of variable size through which said water passes, a by-pass opening and mechanism including a movable sleeve located wholly within said supply line and operatively associated with said openings and Jformed so as to be positioned in accordance with the Water pressure in said supply line for varying the relative sizes of said openings to maintain a constant flow through said flow opening.

5. The combination in a plumbing xture of a water supply line adapted to deliver water thereto, a sleeve slidably mounted within said supply line, a plug of varying cross section extending into one end of said sleeve so as to form an annular flow opening through which said water passes, a by-pass opening normally discommunicated from said supply line and means for changing the position of said sleeve in accordance with the pressure of water within said supply line so as to establish communication with and divert water from the supply line into the by-pass and to vary the relative sizes of said openings whereby a substantially constant flow through said flow opening is obtained under varying conditions of water pressure.

6. The combination in a plumbing fixture ot a water supply line adapted to deliver water thereto through an opening interposed between the supply line and the Xture, mechanism responsive to the pressure in said supply7 line for decreasing the size of said opening upon an increase in pressure in said supply line and for increasing the size of said opening upon a decrease in said pressure, and a by-pass controlled by said mechanism for discharging surplus water from said line in response to the water pressure increasing to a predetermined value.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 10th vday of March,

ROBERT LEFFEL. 

